The Karma Circle: Virtual Reality, Real Terror
by SaintHeartwing
Summary: Gaz has been relentlessly cruel towards everyone at school, exploiting who she is and what she has. It seems that not one person can stop her...well. Perhaps not ONE. And perhaps not one PERSON...


Dib nursed his swollen black eye as he gave the other children in the cafeteria a look, all of them expectantly staring back at him as his sister sauntered into the room. Some would see a certain swagger in how she "graced" places with her presence. Gazlene Membrane called it walking. Most other people called it "swagger". And one kid had called it "being a f-king a-hole"." She'd stuck his head in the toilet and jammed the seat down onto him again and again until his screams alerted the guidance counselor who'd been walking nearby.

Dib just sighed as he looked back at the others. What the Hell was he supposed to do, he seemed to be asking. Gaz might have been his sister, but he simply couldn't control her one iota. Gazlene Membrane did what she wanted, whenever she wanted, and there was very little that anybody could honestly do about it. And worst of all, she knew it. Gaz KNEW that nobody could really match her. Could stand up to her. Not even the teachers.

And it wasn't just because she was terrifying and imposing, with almost burning amber/golden eyes. It wasn't the ferocity that glinted out from her gaze whenever she swept across the room. It wasn't the faint little tic that came up whenever someone even remotely annoyed her, a faint, barely there sign that she was trying to hold back from strangling them on the spot. And it wasn't her powers, her freakish, demonic gifts that seemed to dominate the seedy underbelly of the school and which frightened even the horrific old crone that was Ms. Bitters. No, it was because she was the beloved daughter of Professor Matthew Membrane, and nobody ever got believed whenever they tried to speak out about Gaz.

Time and time again, the results had been the same. The school councilor Mr. Thildari had tried to talk to Professor Membrane over the phone, only to keep getting put off. He'd tried to schedule a meeting at the Professor's Lab, only to get that delayed again and again. Finally he had demanded the professor's attention at the latest Parent Teacher Conference, not caring if the Professor was only there via vid-screen.

"Professor Membrane, your daughter has several very large issues when it comes to interacting with her peers." Mr. Thildari had said, adjusting his glasses, so thick and glassy and white you couldn't see the blindness behind them. "She's gotten in trouble for assaulting students and her interactions with teachers has gone beyond any kind of mild teasing we can handle." The grey-haired councilor intoned in his dark, soft voice.

"Oh, that's simply her way of expressing herself. She's just got to be allowed to express herself. She doesn't really mean it. You know how children are." Professor Membrane said with a chuckle, waving a dismissive black-gloved hand in the air on his screen as Mr. Thildari frowned, glancing over at Gaz who was smugly smirking right back, Dib tugging his face down and sighing deeply. He wanted to say something. Anything. But what could he say? Really, what?

"It's more than teasing, sir. It's harassing. It is incredibly hard for people like myself to do our job when we are set on fire somehow for putting our hand on her shoulder and pulling them away from-"

"You should NEVER put your hand on my daughter!" Professor Membrane exclaimed. "Are you seriously telling me you tried corporal punishment!?"

"She broke the nose of a student by slamming him into a locker because he called her a witch during art class when she opened up a hell portal, summoning _rats_ to-"

"And you let people insult my darling Gaz?" Professor Membrane asked, sounding mortified. He was clearly not paying attention. Finally Councilor Thildari held his hand up to his white jacketed chest and pulled the collar to the side.

"Do you see THIS? Your daughter did this. One more inch and it would have severed my jugular!" He finally snapped.

"She's only twelve years old!" Professor Membrane said with a final "harumph", floating away with his broadly beaming daughter, his apologetic son nearby giving the counclor a sad look as the foreigner frowned darkly in the professor's direction, Membrane missing his final words.

"That is my **point** , sir."

"I'm sorry." Dib murmured quietly, hanging his head, black scythe-like locks sagging down. "My dad doesn't pay attention enough. I'm sure he cares but...not in the right way."

"It would appear your father doesn't love your daughter in the right way." The councilor sighed as he and Dib made their way over to the punch bowl, Dib deciding not to take any after what happened last time. He looked about, wondering where Zim was as the councilor poured himself some punch. "You see, there's different kinds of love. The immature love and the true, real love, they can be hard to understand. Immature, childish love is how a child loves their parents when they're five and vice versa. Everything they do is wonderful and anyone who criticizes them is baaaaad." He intoned with a roll of his eyes. "Real, adult, normal love? That means acknowledging flaws and mistakes. It doesn't mean you overlook them or pretend they don't exist. But your father seems to remain stuck on the former, and cannot move to the latter."

"I wish there was some way to get him to understand." Dib muttered. "But nobody seems able to reach through to him or Gaz. I doubt even one of Zim's big, scary drills could do that. Speaking of...where IS Zim?" Dib asked, glancing around before noticing Zim was off in the corner, arms wrapped around himself as he quivered slightly, pale and unkempt as Skoodge patted his back supportively and readjusted the black wig atop Zim's head, which wasn't nearly as nice as Skoodge's red one. Zim had put on a lot of weight, evidently.

"Yeesh. He really needs to lose some weight."

"Well he is eating for more than one." The councilor remarked nonchalantly with a shrug.

"I...didn't...wait, is he really a GIRL or..." Dib muttered, cringing as he shook his head back and forth. Probably best he didn't know. "I had hoped you'd be able to get through to my Dad."

"It doesn't look like I could." Mr. Thildari sighed. "...I don't think any **one** of us could."

Yes. It seemed clear that nothing could really be done about Gazlene Membrane. And she loved talking about it to the confidant she paid for. The exotic and erotic holographic den of pleasures, Mr. X's X-Otic X-Perience had the best perception filters in the business, the finest hologram technology. Normally it'd be a cool thousand for a session. But since Membrane studies had helped with the construction of the technology used in Mr. X's special premises, this meant she and her family got a half off discount.

So she laid in a couch, letting her piggy slaves feed her grapes as she nonchalantly spoke to Mr. X as he had a hologram stand in for him of a tuxedo-wearing, well-dressed nonchalant young man with combed black white hair. He sat near her as she laid upon the couch in her luxurious toga with a golden wreath around her head, the little vampire piggies carrying in new trays of goodies into the room. "You always find the best chocolate-covered fruits." She complimented with a wave of her hand. "Good to see you recognize I'll appreciate it more than any of your other customers ever could."

Mr. X's avatar calmly nodded as he sat in his chair, sipping on some wine to look sophisticated, trying not to outwardly make clear how he truly felt. Instead he just bobbed his head slightly. "I trust everything is once again to your liking? We've added in the fine pine tree scene you requested for this mountaintop resort location." He intoned, gesturing around the room. Indeed, she was in a faintly Everest-like setting with cherry blossoms getting blown past the large windows of a majestic hotel. A crystal chandelier hung above, the floor was finely waxed, and portraits of her hung on the walls as she smirked.

"Good. You're showing me what I paid for." Gaz said with a small smile.

Mr. X tried not to immediately rush over there and strangle her. But it was truly...very...hard. Why oh WHY did she have to have so much money?

...

...

...

...the night was cold. But the fire was warm, a bag of strange dust being tossed over it as it blazed more brightly, hooded faces standing in a circle all about. Their shadows danced on the large trees nearby, the moon barely casting illumination through the thick canopy of leaves above as a form steepled its hands and spoke gravely and darkly.

"We all know why we are here." He announced. "Action must be taken."

"Action against that little she-demon." Another grunted.

"We can't very well do that." Another voice sighed. "Dib would never let anything happen to her. She's his sister and he's too protective for his own good."

"If he could be TURNED, he would make a powerful ally."

"He must join us or die."

"Dude!"

Everyone wheeled on the last speaker, giving glares in Keef's direction. "Keef, really?! I mean, what in the f-k, man? What in the actual F-K?" Skoodge said as he lowered the hood and frowned, missing half his teeth from when he'd given Gaz coconut chocolate for her Christmas gift. She had evidently been allergic to chocolate. He hadn't known that. Therefore he didn't think it was fair that she give him

 _"A fist. It's for hitting people with. And the best part is you get to use it again!"_

 _WHACK!_

 _"And again!"_

 _WHACK!_

 _"And AGAIN!"_

 _WHACK!_

"Sorry. Just trying to get into the spirit." Keef said with a small blush on his normally chipper cheeks.

...

...

...

...unbeknownst to them, Dib was knocking on his sister's door. "Hey, Gaz? Can I talk to you?" He inquired, standing outside and waiting patiently. He tilted his head to the side a bit, absolute silence greeting him before the door downstairs opened. He walked to the top of the stairs, seeing Gaz entering the house, yawning a bit and burping as she licked chocolate off her fingers. "Where've you been?"

"Nunya."

"Nunya?"

"Nunya business." She said with a wave of her hand.

"Look, it's just, I'm...worried that some of the kids at school might try something. And I just want you to, well..." He rubbed the back of his neck, the eyes behind his glasses filled with nervousness and a faint amount of concern and worry. "I want to do what's best for you, Gaz. You're my sister and I love you."

"Oh don't go all mushy on me. That's gross." She said, sticking her tongue out. "This isn't some afterschool special where the bullies all gang up on me and I come crying to you and we bond together over a shared experience. Real life's not like that."

"Yeah, but in real life, kids like you can get knifed and shot in schools by other kids who've been pushed just a bit too far." Dib admitted. "I'm worried you might actually make one of the kids really try something awful against you-"

"I can handle anything they throw at me." Gaz said, cutting him off with a wave of her hand as she ascended the stairs and pushed her way into her room, purple hair bobbing a bit. "They don't scare me."

And with that, she slammed the door shut, Dib biting his lip, shaking his head back and forth as he made his way into his room.

The next day it was time for another one of Gaz's special sessions. She was the Vampire Piggy Hunter, decked out in faintly tattered gloves and boots, a large, wide-brimmed adventuring hat, a mighty sword strapped to her back as she readied a crossbow. Grinning, she looked herself over in the mirror at Mr. X's X-Otic X-Perience, laughing slightly. "Ohhh, yeah. I look gooood in this." She said, the mirror standing across from her in a large hedge maze as part of the session. Gaz lived for the challenge, and what could be more exhilierating and challenging than playing REAL vampire piggy hunter, tracking them down in a hedge maze? The moon hung in a blood red sky, a cold, dark zephyr blowing as black and brown leaves flittered about from decaying trees nearby, and she readied her crossbow, entering the hedge maze. "Ready or not!" She called out.

Gaz bolted through the hedge maze, gauntled fist raised as she caught sight of a red-eyed, flying little vampire piggy that squealed, trying to go wee-wee-wee all the way home. She took aim with the crossbow, cackling as it sailed through the air, embedding in the piggy and making it explode in a shower of digital sparks as she grinned. "Ha, fifty points!" She proclaimed, continuing to move through the hedge maze, halting at a corner and readying another crossbow as she perked her ears up. Grinning, she could hear it, hear the faint "oinking" sound of the pigs searching for her, trying to track her down. She jumped across the hedge hall, firing off her crossbow with a "Heyaaaaa", the bolts striking the piggies in the face as they went down, spiralling, crashing into the ground as she smirked in delight.

"You'd best hurry." Mr. X's voice rang out. Gaz blinked in surprise at that. "I've got a large party reserved who paid for quite a good session that want to cash in soon."

Gaz "harrumphed". "I'm getting what I paid for." She said, rolling her eyes as she kept making her way through the hedge maze, blasting piggies all the way. "Come on. Get me something more challenging. Your highest difficulty!"

"...you're sure?" Mr. X asked, his faintly synthetic tone ringing out through the PDA. " **Absolutely** sure?"

"Of course. Challenge me." She said, the hedge maze shifting a bit around her, shuffling itself whilst leaving a large circle for her to stand in before, at last, she heard a soft brush of leaves not too far off. And the sound of footsteps approaching. Gaz smiled, grinning as she readied her crossbow, aiming it squarely in the direction of whomever was approaching from behind a nearby corner. Ready...aim...

She fired off a bolt, but her would-be target caught it in midair, Gaz blinking a bit in surprise. His clawed hand crushed it easily as he turned, showing off three pairs of piercing, almost unholy white eyes stretched across a dark, almost black face to match an equally dark body. His large shoulders and muscles bulged, taloned feet refined as well as he turned to look her squarely in the eye, a star-like insignia built into his shoulders...as he grinned. A horrific, disgusting grin that seemed to make his head split, his eyes alit with horrific laughter as he held up a clawed hand, energy coalescing around it.

Gaz ducked, firing off another bolt. It bounced harmlessly off his chest as he let out a harsh laugh, a pale white bolt of power shooting at her as she ducked to the side. The crossbow was dissolved by the strike as she whipped off the sword from her back, readying it in front of her as she gave her opponent a growl. Rushing forward, she struck at the thing...

The sword shattering in place.

Now true fear passed over Gaz's face as she took a hesitant step back, the being stepping towards her before she bolted, racing as fast as she could for the exit. "Turn it off! Shut it down immediately!" She yelled out, finding the door and tugging on it. She yanked and yanked, panting slightly, sweat beginning to break out on her brow. "I mean it! Turn the f-king thing off!"

"Oh, I'm afraid it's not going to be that easy." The being remarked, it's voice all too familiar to her as she gasped in shock. It couldn't be. It just couldn't. But it was. That was Mr. X's voice coming out of the black being's mouth, and she knew full well that whatever he wanted to do to her wasn't good. She looked down at the half-broken sword in her other hand, hacking away at the door, busting it down as she bolted through a long, winding hallway, X laughing coldly.

"You can't escape, Gazlene! I've got the program running through the whole building. You'll never find your way out." He insisted as Gaz panted slightly, putting a hand to her chest, breathing in and out as she kept bolting through the halls. Her lungs felt as though they were on fire, her knees beginning to give way as she kept running and running. Time seemed to drag on Mr. X always seeming to be so close to her, yet no matter how many corners she turned, no matter how many new halls she dove into, she couldn't find another door.

Then, at last, salvation. She found a doorway marked 'Exit' at the far end of a long stretch of red and barreled towards it, opening it up and slamming it shut, locking it behind her and letting out a sigh of relief...

Before noticing she was surrounded by a large, powerful throne of people in cloaks and hoods. She glanced about, growling as one by one, they all removed the hoods, showing off people she knew all too well. From the teachers in school to her classmates to normal folks on the street she'd somehow insulted or hurt, there were what appeared to be dozens of people in the enormous, faintly lit hall, illuminated by a small fire in the center which they all stood close to.

"Gazlene Membrane. You are part of what we all paid for." Ms. Bitters croaked out.

"We all chipped in, little Gaz." Zim said as he giggled almost insanely. "AAAAAALL of us chipped in with what little monies we had. And we bought a session. A session involving you."

"Now you're going to recieve the judgment you so richly deserve." Mr. Elliot intoned.

"Or in other words, you're gonna PAY for being such a BITCH." Torque Smacky growled, others in the crowd nodding in agreement as Gaz just smirked.

"Oh? Am I? I don't think so." She said, clapping her hands together, trying to focus her magical might. "I'll just...just..."

She blinked. Wait. Something wasn't right. Why wasn't she hovering in the air, eyes aglow with red light as she sent waves of pure madness and death at these unworthy peons who were trying to wrong her? Why couldn't she feel that good chill that came from using her powers? Where were her friggin' powers?!

"You really thought we wouldn't come up with a countermeasure for what you can do? It took some time and convincing, but we found someone who knew what you could do intimately." Mr. Thildari said as Gaz felt a clawed hand resting on her shoulder. "The Exile was quite happy to accept this as well."

"I may get slightly less money now, but if it means never having to feed you grapes again..." The dark being whispered out, claws digging into her shoulder.

"Who could possibly know what I can-" Gaz began to say before she heard a voice over the PA system, and saw a window that overlooked the room suddenly light up, revealing the inhabitant.

Dib stood there, his face solemn and quiet as he held the microphone to his face. "Love means acknowledging someone is doing something wrong. And doing what's best for them. And sometimes that means not shielding them from the consequences of their actions." He finally admitted, biting into his lip as he slightly turned away, holding up a small, glowing amulet that resembled Gaz perfectly. "A bit of voodoo and dark arts and...well, I had to call in another favor from Mortos, but...I had to do it, Gaz."

"I thought you **loved** me!" Gaz said accusingly, the clawed hand moving over her mouth as she was pulled against the dark body, feeling his other hand ensnare her as he held her close and tight, almost cruhsing her.

"Oh, he DOES." The Exile spoke up, it's synthetic voice dark and faintly seductive. "And all of us are here because WE love you, Gaz." He whispered, the claws digging into her flesh, as she felt his tongue snake towards her ear. "And sometimes...love _hurts_."

Dib looked away. The metal upon which Gaz's head rested was slightly softening, and she could feel faint goo spreading over her face and chest, the Exile squeezing Gaz into itself and hissing in delight as it did so. Gaz struggled uselessly to free herself, her entire upper body being enveloped by tight synthetic warmth as the clawed hands held her still. Her face was a stretched scream behind black, almost scaly flesh that stretched over her, more and more of her sinking in.

The Exile licked its lips and let out a long sigh of utter delight, slightly arching is back and lifting the young human girl's rear and her legs up into the air, it's robotic body continuing to slurp her up. More and more of her sank into the waiting dark abyss, waves of pleasure filling the Exile as it howled in delight. As if like water, she was sinking in, forced into a circular chamber, her body being bent and kneaded, forced into the interior of the strange synthetic as it continued to absorb her.

At last, it was over and she was trapped inside a dark chamber, and she felt cold metal beginning to snake over her. She struggled as she was pinned against the walls, a tube inserted into her mouth as her eyelids were stretched back. She was stuck there, now seeing a screen on display for her as she uselessly squirmed about, the Exile's voice ringing in her ears. "You love watching movies. Love diving into the deepest fantasies I could craft for you. Well now you get to watch every little thing you did to the others. It took me a long time to get all their stories, all the details, but it was worth it. I do hope you like historical reenacments. Because they're all you'll be seeing. Ever."

And with that, they played over and over before her eyes. She could hear her own smirking, cold voice. She could see her bringing down fists and toilet lids and chairs on people. She could see her gripping a knife, tossing it at the guidance councilor in the cafeteria, hear the crack of Dib's glasses as she shattered them and his nose with a good punch. On display for her to see. And it would be all she could see. She could not close her eyes. She could not move. She just laid there, trapped inside the Exile, nourishment drizzling into her mouth from the tube that had been forced into her, now not even able to scream.

The Exile smirked, tracing a claw over it's chest. " _Divine_." It whispered. "And all up to your liking?"

"Worth every penny." Mr. Thildari remarked with a nod, everyone else in the room eagerly nodding in agreement, smiling and laughing as Dib bit into his lip. He didn't know what he was gonna tell Dad...until the dark form of the Exile suddenly appeared in the doorway nearby, an inquistive look on his face.

"Dib, tell me something. Why did your own familial unit not intervene long before this? Are fathers on your world not meant to take action when their child is out of control?"

"Mr. Thildari kind of put it best. My dad didn't really know how to love Gaz right. Because love means knowing when to say no."

And at this, the Exile smiled.

"Dib...perhaps your father could stand to TRULY get close to his daughter?"


End file.
